What does adjoining mean?
Adjoining is an adjective describing things that lie directly next to each other, sharing a boundary or point of contact. It is most commonly applied to rooms, buildings, and plots of land: adjoining hotel rooms are connected by a door, and adjoining properties share a fence line or wall. The word carries a neutral, practical tone and appears frequently in real-estate listings, architectural plans, and legal descriptions, where precision about physical relationships matters. Although often used interchangeably with adjacent, adjoining is generally taken to imply actual contact rather than mere proximity — adjacent lots might be separated by a narrow strip of land, while adjoining ones touch. Derived from the verb adjoin, which comes from Latin roots meaning 'to join to,' the word entered English through Old French. For writers seeking a precise term for physical closeness with contact, adjoining is the standard choice.
adjectiveNeighboring or next to something else; sharing a common boundary or being in immediate contact with another thing, especially of rooms, buildings, or pieces of land.
- Next to or touching another thing; sharing a common boundary or point of contact (most often of rooms, buildings, or land).
"The hotel offered us adjoining rooms so the two families could move freely between them."
"The kitchen opens onto an adjoining dining room."
"The two farms have adjoining fields separated only by a low stone wall."
Adjoining and adjacent look like twins, but only one guarantees that the wall is actually shared — in real estate, that difference can be worth thousands.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of adjoining
Adjoining derives from the verb adjoin, formed from the Latin adjungere, meaning 'to join to,' itself built from ad- ('to, toward') plus jungere ('to join'). The word passed into English through Old French ajoindre during the Middle English period, with the participial adjective adjoining established by around the fifteenth century. It shares its Latin root jungere with words such as join, junction, and conjugate, all carrying the core idea of connection or yoking together.
Related word forms
How adjoining is actually used
Adjoining is slightly more formal than 'next door' or 'next to' and is especially common in legal, architectural, and real-estate contexts. It typically describes physical structures or parcels of land rather than abstract things. Some usage guides note that adjoining strictly implies contact, whereas adjacent can allow a small gap; in everyday use the two are often interchangeable.
Easily confused with adjoining
Adjacent means lying near or next to something but not necessarily touching it, while adjoining implies direct contact or a shared boundary.